THE CENTRAL RIO GRANDE VAELEY 



15 



Wheat is one of the principal field crops and the area planted is be- 

 ing rapidly extended. The market is ready and top prices are always 

 paid. Flour mills are located at Bernalillo, in Sandoval county, two at 

 Albuquerque, and at Belen, Los Lunas and Peralta 

 WHEAT, CORN, in Valencia county. Wheat is well adapted to the 

 OATS ETC ^^^^' ^^^y ^° grow and giving a good yield, thirty- 



five bushels to the acre being a fair average. Corn, 

 requiring more care tln'ough a longer season, has not thus far been 

 given much attention. Oats, barley and rye do exceptionally well, giv- 

 ing large yields and bringing high prices. There will be a great ex- 

 tension of the area given these crops when the productivity becomes 

 more generally known. 



The soil and climate of this valley are ideal for the culture of a 

 suo-ar beet giving a high percentage of saccharine matter. Careful 

 analyses prove that the beets grown in this valley give from 18 to 20 

 per cent saccharine matter, or from two to four per cent better than the 

 best beet grown in the Arkansas valley region of Colorado. The first 

 extensive experiment in sugar beet culture in this val- 

 SUGAR BEETS l^y is being made this season with fifty-two farmers 

 associated in the cultivation of 7^ acres in the vicinity 

 of Albuquerque. The average yield here is twenty tons to the acre 

 and the average price on the cars $4 per ton, or $80 per acre gross. The 

 cost of producing varies from $18 to $25 per acre, giving an average net 

 profit of $60 per acre. The entire season's crop has been contracted for 

 by sugar manufacturers of Holly, Colorado, who agree, in the event of 

 the success of the crop, to establish a sugar factory at Albuquerque to care 



for the beet crop of the Central Valley. 



Onions flourish as a field crop in this valley and are receiving at- 

 tention from large planters who are finding them money makers. The 

 Spanish onion, having an exceptionally fine flavor and at- 

 ONIONS taining good 

 size, is the 



favorite crop, although 



the Bermudas and fancy 



grades also do well. 



Onions will yield, with 



careful cutlivation, an 



average of 30,000 



pounds to the acre, and 



comparatively little cul- 

 tivation is needed after 



the crop is well started. 



The 1907 onion crop in 



this valley sold at an 



average of $2.50 per 



100 pounds. The 1903 



Fifty Dollars Worth of Garden Truck — the Regular 

 MominK Crop of the Bleuber Gardens 



